Vegan Thanksgiving Recipe: How to Cook a Vegan Tofurkey That Actually Tastes Good

I’m a vegetarian, and even I’m skeptical of tofurky. My version of a vegetarian Thanksgiving is usually just to make up for the absence of turkey with a triple serving of mashed potatoes.

But then my friend shared this tofurky recipe with me, and now I’ve seen the light: Tofurky doesn’t have to be gross, bland, or giggly. Try it for yourself:

Ingredients:

Stuffing of your choice

Two tablespoons of miso paste

Splash of orange juice

Teaspoon of honey mustard

Sesame oil

¼ cup of tamari

1) Line a medium-sized, round colander with a cheesecloth or a clean dish towel. Crumble the tofu and put it in the colander, covered with a second cheesecloth. Put the colander in a big bowl and put something heavy on top of the tofu to squeeze out extra water. Put the whole thing (bowl, colander, weight) in the fridge for about two hours.

2) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a cookie sheet or baking dish.

4) Remove the weight from the tofu. Hollow out the tofu with a large spoon so there’s about an inch of tofu still lining the colander. Place the scooped out tofu in a separate bowl (try to keep it all in one piece). Scoop the stuffing into the center of the tofu shell. Place the leftover chunk of tofu on top of the stuffing and press down firmly.

5) Put the whole thing onto the cookie sheet, with the flat side down. Use your hands to mould into as turkey-like as shape as possible. Brush the tofurky with about half of the oil/tamari mixture. Cover with foil.

6) Bake for an hour or so, then remove from the oven, remove the foil, and baste the tofurky with the oil/tamari mixture (leave a few tablespoons). Bake for another hour, without the foil so that the outside can get crispy. When it’s a vaguely turkey-ish color, put it on a serving platter and brush it with the rest of the oil.

7) Eat it and be amazed!

(Note: tofurky, like so many things, is extra delicious with mushroom gravy)